Pioneer Information
Born in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Collins received a B.L.A. from Pennsylvania State University in 1959 and an M.L.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1962. While at Harvard, he worked as a designer at Sasaki Walker and Associates. After graduation, he traveled to Italy on a Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship.
In 1963, Collins co-founded the firm of Adleman, Collins & DuTot. The firm became Collins DuTot & Associates in 1971 and, later, The Delta Group with offices in Philadelphia and Baltimore. His site-sensitive designs relayed multiple layers of meaning influenced by the cultural and natural histories of each unique place. His projects include Schuylkill River Park, Philadelphia’s Society Hill, Delancey Park, Chestnut Street Park, and the Wissahickon Creek Conservation Plan.
Throughout his career, Collins was a lecturer, professor, and visiting studio critic at universities across the country. He Chaired the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture at Temple University and later taught at the School of Architecture and Planning in New Delhi, India. He developed horticultural therapy programs for inmates and established community and teaching gardens for children. In 1993, he was made a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and in 2010 was awarded the Jot Carpenter Medal.
